Some of the Upcoming Key Dates in the 4th Collective Agreement:

March 31st:

Transition of Tenured Assistant Professors: Applicants are required to meet with their Dean prior to applying for associate under this program. Applicants may request to have a representative of the StFXAUT present at this meeting. The purpose of this meeting will be to assist faculty in preparing their application and, if needed, to receive coaching and assistance from the Dean to help invigorate their research program. Potential applicants should meet with their Dean no later than March 31, 2017. (Letter of Understanding #2: Transition of Tenured Assistant Professors;4)

April 10th:

On the basis of the evidence submitted to, and collected by, the Outstanding Teaching Awards Committee, the Committee shall select the recipients of the Outstanding Teaching Awards by April 10. (Article 2.7.1 University Research/Publication/Teaching Awards:4.8.1)

Not equality, equity

This article by Rhonda Semple appears in the Winter 2017 edition of The Beacon

Even though I committed to writing this piece for the Beacon ages ago, and even though I care deeply about the subject of equity, it has taken me a long time to finally sit down to write. My research and teaching are deeply embedded in concerns over equity and, to be frank, my experience in those areas likely informs my reticence. On the one hand, as a historian of belief, my interests in decolonizing empires is a little radical for mission history. On the other hand, as a historian of religion, I’m a little suspect in feminist circles. In a similar manner, this will likely be too reductive for some colleagues and too complex for others. I will claim experience in being a woman although I’m neither expert at that nor can I claim expertise as a person in the many ‘equity seeking’ groups that contribute to an academic community.

I have, however, seen the CAUT studies that led our national union to state that “many academic staff face discrimination and harassment in their jobs. Women, Aboriginal persons and visible and ethnic minorities are under-represented, particularly amongst the most senior academic ranks. Academic staff with disabilities face significant hurdles. Lesbian, gay and bisexual academic staff often feel they must hide their sexuality out of fear of damaging their careers and transgender and transsexual academic staff face significant discrimination based on their gender identities” (https://www.caut.ca/issues-and-campaigns/equity). And I have heard about my female colleagues catcalled on campus and have had students, year on year, tell me about being racially harassed by their peers. I was sexually harassed by a gang of male students outside my house in the fall – threatened with anal rape on my own street because apparently that’s what a woman needs to shut her up. (more…)

StFXAUT Sponsorship Application

The next deadline to submit the StFXAUT Sponsorship Application Form is Saturday, April 1st. The StFXAUT invites sponsorship requests from organizations committed to education, labour, social justice, and community development.

Professional Development Fund

Remember to access your Professional Development Fund (PDF)…
Article 1.22 of the Collective Agreement entitles each member to an expense account, against which you can claim for reimbursement of
PD-related expenses:PDF InformationPDF Expense Claim Form

NSTU Rally – February 15, 2017

StFXAUT Members (left to right): President Mary Oxner, former President Peter McInnis, and Executive Member Wendy Panagopoulos

StFXAUT President Mary Oxner, former President Peter McInnis, and Executive Member Wendy Panagopoulos participated in a local rally in support of the members of the Nova Scotia Teacher’s Union (NSTU), held on Wednesday February 15th. Rally supporters gathered behind the 5 to a $1 and marched to Antigonish MLA Randy Delorey’s Office on Main Street. Approximately 50 members from the NSTU, AUT, and the community participated in the rally.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) – May 11, 2017

Please note the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the StFXAUT will be held on Thursday, May 11thfrom 1:15pm-2:30pm in the SCHW 205.

Prior to the AGM, there will be four information sessions (topics to be confirmed later this month) from 11:30am-12:30pm. Lunch will be provided. Please let Susan MacKay know if you have any food allergies or special dietary requirements.

Reflections on the Women’s March on Washington – Saturday, January 21

This article, written by Erika Koch, appears in the Winter 2017 edition of The Beacon.

Seven airplanes, four hotel rooms, and not quite seven days. That’s what it took for me to travel to and from my usual winter conference—leaving it a day early—and arrive in Washington, DC for the Women’s March, which took place the day after the current American President’s inauguration. I had felt ashamed to be American after the election, and despite the fact that I voted in the election (as is my right as an American citizen), I felt powerless. So, when my sister-in-law invited me to march with her, I felt both thrilled an honored. As I said to her at the time of her invitation, I think I’ve always wanted to be part of a march on Washington. When I lived in Maryland for three years before arriving at St. FX, I played tourist in DC a few times a year and always enjoyed soaking up the city’s history. I was excited to return to the city and be a part of a new history.

People have asked me why I marched. I could fill a great deal of space answering that question, but I will try to be brief. Selfishly, I wanted to dampen my own sense of powerlessness, but, less selfishly, I wanted to remind the world that most Americans who voted did not vote for the current President. I wanted to show the new administration that women are not going to be silent when confronted with misogyny. I wanted to remind myself that not everyone is going to passively accept the new administration’s whims, especially those that threaten women’s rights. (more…)

MSc/MA Supervision Credit

This article, written by Russell Wyeth, appears in the Winter 2017 issue of The Beacon.

Following the conclusion of our recent collective bargaining process, an inequality amongst our members has been established. Faculty in Education will receive teaching credit for supervision of Master’s theses, while faculty in science and the arts will not (Section 1.3.6 of the 4th Collective Agreement). The Administration has indicated that their refusal to provide credit for supervision of MSc and MA theses was linked to the longstanding practice of providing “tuition waivers” to MSc students. However, during bargaining, the inequality created by discriminating between faculty members in different disciplines was recognized by both parties, and a letter of understanding (LOU #1) was signed by the administration and the union to strike a committee to explore options for providing Master’s thesis supervision credit outside of the Faculty of Education.

There are several important considerations to be tackled by this committee: (more…)

President’s Message – Winter 2017

President’s Message appears in the Winter 2017 issue of The Beacon

This academic year has focused on the negotiation and implementation of our new Collective Agreement. Our own negotiations occurred in a larger context of labour action from those associated with our academic environment.

As of December 14, 2016, we signed a new Collective Agreement, our fourth as StFXAUT. Our Members approved the tentative Collective Agreement as of October 14, 2016 and the StFX Board of Governors approved the same tentative agreement on October 20, 2016. Much credit is owed to our Negotiation Team, Ken MacAulay (Chief Negotiator), Christie Lomore, and Kris Hunter, for managing the process of negotiation, overseeing the logistics of wording and formatting changes, and assisting in the communication to Members about the implementation of the Collective Agreement.(more…)

StFXAUT Book Prize Award

The StFXAUT offers a Book Prize Award consisting of a book and a cash award of $200, which is to be awarded at each Spring Convocation to two undergraduate and/or B.Ed. students who demonstrate a commitment to social justice advocacy and community development on campus or in the community. If you are interested in nominating a student for this award, please complete the attached Nomination Form and submit your nomination to Susan MacKay by Wednesday, March 15. All nominations will be forwarded to the StFXAUT Book Prize Committee. Please note the Terms of Reference for the StFXAUT Book Prize Award.